Dr King on the Industrial Arts of the Esquimaux. 123 



could not possibly surpass them, either for symmetry or exe- 

 cution. The caiak was first described by William Baffin, 

 who, while a youth, wrote the Account of James Hall's Voy- 

 age of Discovery in 1607, and whose subsequent career en- 

 titled him to have a very considerable bay of the Atlantic 

 named after him. The length is from 16 to 20 feet, and the 

 breadth at the centre from a foot and a-half to 2 feet, and 

 the depth about 1 foot, the head and stern gradually inclin- 

 ing to a point from the centre ; it has, therefore, been very 

 justly compared, in shape, to a weaver^s shuttle. The bot- 

 tom is rounded, and has no keel. Twenty-two little beams 

 or cross pieces keep the frame on a stretch above, and two 

 strong battens run, one from the stem and the other from the 

 stern, towards the centre, where they are attached to a hoop 

 of bone or wood, of a sufficient size to admit the body. The 

 frame is entirely covered, with the exception of a circular 

 hole in the centre, with fresh dressed seal or walrus parch- 

 ment, and, when complete, it weighs about sixty pounds, 

 which, by the form of the rim, can be carried on the head 

 without the assistance of the hands. 



There is a difference in the form of the caiak, according to 

 the locale of the people, which lies in the elevation and shape 

 of the rim, and in the greater or lesser curvature of the ex- 

 tremities. Throughout Esquimaux land, comfort versus cus- 

 tom is the motto of some few of the inhabitants in relation 

 to the rim, and instead of being of a uniform height, it is 

 raised at the 'back, the better to support the trunk of the 

 body. At Prince William Sound, according to Captain Cook, 

 the bow curves somewhat like the head of a violin, a pecu- 

 liarity of form which answers for one figured by Mr Henry 

 Ellis as in use at Hudson Bay. This is, however, doubt- 

 ful, for in Captain Cook's caiak we have the letterpress, and 

 in that of Mr Henry Ellis the figure alone to guide us. 

 The caiak of Greenland has a knot of ivory at each end, to 

 protect the sharp point of the extremity ; it is possible, 

 therefore, that the curvature described by Cook and Ellis 

 had a protective use. 



At Prince William Sound the caiak is frequently built with 



